The Island
by riflechick
Summary: After getting out of Raccoon City, Jill Valentine thought she had escaped the horrors of Umbrella and the undead. What she didn't know was that a mysterious trip to a remote island would lead to a replay of those horrors, including an unseen but deadly e
1. A Vacation

Chapter 1 - A Vacation

Jill Valentine stared at the pair of ugly zombies that were about to attack two small children. Then, suddenly, two extremely loud BANGS were heard, and the zombies fell dead.

The movie continued, with the stereotypical tough-guy action hero appearing on the screen, a smoking handgun in each hand. He delivered a cheesy one-liner, then collected the scared-looking children. As the scene changed, Jill turned her eyes away from the screen and wondered why the hell the airline officials had decided to show a zombie movie, of all things, on this flight. After escaping the zombie horrors of Raccoon City, she had decided that she was in need of a good vacation. One day, as she was flipping through travel brochures, a letter had arrived from her old S.T.A.R.S. buddy Chris Redfield, whom she hadn't seen in months. In the letter, he had said that he'd become friends with an eccentric billionaire named Rex Wilterfreiss. Wilterfreiss, it seemed, owned a private island in the Caribbean, and he had invited Chris there for a visit, who in turn had invited Jill. With the letter came a plane ticket to Miami, along with directions to the dock in the city where the boat would be waiting to take her to the island. Jill had thought it was a wonderful idea - just what she needed to get away from the memories of monsters. It was too damn bad that the airplane movie that day was about zombies.

She glanced out the window at the lush greenery of Florida beneath her. She had always liked the window seat. However, the bangs and grunts and snarls from the movie were quite a distraction. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore the movie. Drifting in and out of a light nap, she was only jolted back to full awakeness by the pilot's voice coming over the intercom. "Ladies and gentlemen, we will be landing in Miami in twenty minutes. Please fasten your seat belts." Jill fastened her seat belt, rubbed her eyes, and tossed her short dark hair. At least the movie was over.

After the wheels of the plane touched down, it was another fifteen minutes before the plane reached the gate, along with yet another fifteen minutes before the passengers were allowed to begin disembarking. Jill, seated near the back of the plane, was one of the last to get out. After collecting her luggage (one large suitcase and one small one), she went outside, hailed a cab, and handed the driver the directions to the dock.

"You sure you got the right address here, miss?" asked the taxi driver. "This is in a really bad part of town. A young woman like you, alone, could get into a lot of trouble down there and..."

"Yes, it's the right address. And don't worry about me. I can take care of myself," she said. The taxi driver shrugged and began driving. Jill chuckled to herself. So many men who didn't know her underestimated her.

After about twenty-five minutes of driving, the cab braked to a stop near some dingy-looking docks. Rundown, graffiti-covered buildings lined the streets. Various seedy-looking characters were shuffling along the sidewalks. "Guess this is it," said the driver.

"Thanks," said Jill. Gathering up her luggage, she climbed out of the taxi and paid the driver. She then watched as the cab sped off into the distance. Glancing at the scene around her, she wondered why this Wilterfreiss guy, if he was a billionaire, didn't spend the money to have a dock in a better place than this.

A scruffy-looking, middle-aged man approached her, staring at her intently but not saying a word. Jill crossed her arms (which were pretty big for a skinny girl) in front of her and gave him her most intimidating stare. He hesitated, then began walking off in the opposite direction. She smiled to herself.

She then made her way towards the dock itself. Three people were standing there, but there was no boat yet. She went over to them and introduced herself. "Are you waiting for Mr. Wilterfreiss's boat too?" she asked.

"Yeah," said one of them, an athletic-looking Latina woman with shoulder-length dark brown hair. "We all came here separately, but it seems we all know someone who's friends with this Wilterfriess guy. He must be throwing a really big party." She shook Jill's hand. "I'm Monica," she said.

The other two people then introduced themselves. The first was a slightly overweight young man wearing a T-shirt with a green alien on it. "I'm Benny," he said. The other person, a skinny blonde woman wearing expensive-looking clothes, introduced herself as Jennifer.

The noise of a motor made them all turn around. Another taxi had pulled up to the curb. A tall, muscular, dark-haired man got out. Approaching the group, he carried a large duffel bag in one hand and a long, narrow case in the other. "Are you here for Mr. Wilterfreiss's boat too?" asked Jennifer.

"That's right," said the man. He studied everyone's faces carefully. "Humph. So no one recognizes me?" he said.

"Should we?" asked Monica. The man laughed. "I'm Zeke Zarford," he said. "I have my own outdoor-themed TV show on cable. But I guess none of you watches Channel 271." Zeke continued talking, revealing himself to be a confident and loudmouthed man who loved talking about himself." Jill and Monica both rolled their eyes at his speech, but Jennifer seemed smitten with him. She began flirting with Zeke, while the others looked at them, shook their heads, and talked amongst themselves.

"Wilterfriess," mused Benny. "I wonder what kind of name that is."

"It sounds kind of German to me," said Jill. Suddenly, the distinctive sound of a boat was heard in the distance. They all looked out towards the ocean and saw a large motorboat making its way towards them. "Looks like our ride is here," said Monica.


	2. Stranded

Chapter 2 - Stranded

The blue and white boat that approached the shore was modern, clean, and expensive-looking, in sharp contrast to the dock and the surrounding buildings. "At least the billionaire invested in a good boat," thought Jill. As the boat drew up to the dock, the pilot became visible. He was a thin, black-haired man wearing a black jacket.

"Mr. Wilterfreiss?" asked Zeke. The boatman shook his head. "Mr. Wilterfreiss is waiting on the island, along with all of his other guests," he said. "My name's Ted. I do a bunch of odd jobs around the estate for the boss." He paused. "Please climb aboard and make yourselves comfortable."

The guests got on the boat one by one. "Do you know if Chris Redfield is on the island?" asked Jill.

"I don't know the names of most of Mr. Wilterfreiss's guests," said Ted. "Like I said, I just do odd jobs around the place." By now, all the guests had boarded and were seated in the boat's comfortable leather seats. "We should get to the island in a couple of hours," announced Ted. "Just sit back and enjoy the ride."

The boat moved rapidly away from the dock. The skyline of Miami faded into the distance. Jill sat at the back of the boat, thinking to herself. Something about this whole setup seemed a little off to her. Why would an eccentric billionaire invite so many strangers to his private island? And then there was the boatman, Ted. Although he was trying to be friendly, she could sense that he seemed nervous and acted as if he had something to hide.

She glanced around at her fellow passengers. Benny was talking with Ted in the front of the boat. Ted, again, seemed very nervous as he answered Benny's questions. Jennifer had continued her flirtatious activities with Zeke, who seemed to be enjoying the attention very much. Monica walked up to Jill. "I think their personalities seem to match each other's," she grinned as she nodded at Jennifer and Zeke.

"Definitely," agreed Jill. She and Monica got to talking and discovered that they had a lot in common. They both liked sports, outdoor stuff, guns, and video games, and managed to hold an interesting conversation for the next couple of hours. "We're coming up on the island," announced Ted. Everyone looked up and saw a small, tropical island, covered with palm trees, looming just ahead. Jill looked at her watch in surprise, astonished that two hours had gone by so quickly. She saw Monica doing the same thing and they both laughed.

The boat slowed as it approached the island. A small dock jutted out past a white sandy beach and into the water. Surprisingly, no one seemed to be waiting to meet them. "Shouldn't Mr. Wilterfreiss or his guests be here to meet us?" asked Monica.

"I wouldn't worry," said Ted as he shifted his feet. "They're probably all at the mansion. There's a path that leads from the dock right to it. You can't miss it. Just follow the path and you should get to the party in a few minutes. Besides, it's hard to predict exactly when the boat will arrive, so there's not much point in anyone waiting by the dock." Jill, upon hearing this, was about to ask Ted why he couldn't just use the boat's radio to inform Wilterfreiss exactly when they were arriving, but she didn't get a chance to because Zeke and Jennifer began bombarding him with questions about what the mansion was like.

The boat pulled up to the dock and came to a stop. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to welcome you to Wilterfreiss Island," said Ted. "Please watch your step as you leave the boat and have fun at the party."

"You're not staying with us?" asked Benny.

"I have another job to do in town," answered Ted. As soon as all the passengers and their luggage were off the boat, he motored it quickly away from the dock. Soon the boat was a speck on the horizon. Jill frowned. "I don't like this," she said. "There's something creepy about this whole affair."

"Oh, you're just being paranoid," said Jennifer. "I, for one, am going to party and have some fun. Just like Zeke."

"Right on," declared Zeke. Swinging his duffel bag and long case, he started towards the interior of the island. "This looks like the path right here," he said. He started down it with Jennifer right next to him. Jill, Monica, and Benny followed behind them. Palm trees and thick bushes crowded both sides of the trail. After about fifteen minutes, they emerged into a clearing where a large, white, three-story mansion stood. A fancy garden with a fountain in the middle stood in front of the house. To the mansion's side, a big, oval-shaped swimming pool was visible. It was all very exquisite and charming - but nobody was there! No people were waiting to greet the five new arrivals. There was no sign of a party.

"Hello!" Zeke called out. "Anybody home?" There was no response. He walked up to the front door and tried it. It was unlocked. Stepping inside, he repeated his shout, coming back outside a few moments later. "There doesn't seem to be anybody inside the house either," he said.

"It looks like you were right about something being wrong," said Monica to Jill. Jennifer was just about to open her mouth to say something in response when Benny held up his hand. "Listen!" he said.

They heard the sound of footsteps crashing through the bushes, growing louder as they came closer. A few seconds later, three people came running around the side of the mansion. They hurried up to the group.

"Who are you?" asked the man in the lead. He was middle-aged and strong-looking, with the air of someone who knew a lot about survival. "Do you have a boat?"

Jill and her companions introduced themselves and told their story, finishing with the fact that they did not have a boat. The man scowled angrily. "It happened to us too!" he said. "We all got letters, supposedly from friends, that said they had befriended this billionaire Wilterfreiss guy and were inviting us to a party on this island. That guy Ted dropped us off here in his boat, then immediately took off. When we got to the mansion and found it was empty, we knew it was all a hoax! That Ted marooned us here, probably as part of some stupid practical joke!"

"Yeah!" spoke up one of the other newcomers. She was a muscular blonde woman wearing a sleeveless top. "If I get my hands on Teddy-boy, I'm gonna kick his ass!"

The third newcomer, a short man dressed in a business suit, said, "It seems pretty expensive and pointless for a practical joke. There's got to be something more behind this." He introduced himself as Mark. The newcomer who had spoken first was Chuck, and the blonde woman was named Laura.

"Well, joke or not, we have to find something that can help us," said Jill.

Chuck shook his head. "We've walked all around this island," he said. "It's pretty small. There aren't any boats here. We looked all through the mansion too. There aren't any telephones, radios, TVs, or computers. Pretty strange for a fancy mansion like this, huh? And of course our cell phones don't work way out here. We're stranded."

"Just a minute. I think we're all forgetting something very important," spoke up Jennifer. Everyone turned to look at her. "Why should we want to get off this island? The way I see it, we all got a free trip to a tropical paradise with a big mansion, a big pool, and a lovely beach. We should just sit back, relax, and enjoy ourselves!" She looked around and saw that although Zeke seemed to be in agreement with her, the others were all giving her angry looks.

"Earth to blonde airhead," said Laura, blushing when she remembered that her own hair was blonde too. "When someone maroons somebody, they generally don't do it to give the victim a good time. I'm sure Ted and whatever cronies he may have are planning something else. Maybe they plan to rob us while we're out here stranded."

"I think it's some sort of conspiracy from some secret gang or terrorist group," said Benny. "We might be guinea pigs for some crazy nut's evil experiment."

"The only crazy nut I see around here is you," said Chuck. "This whole thing is probably just an idiotic joke by that weenie Ted. He's probably a spoiled rich kid with too much money and time on his hands. Anyway, we're not too bad off here. There's plenty of food and water in the kitchen, and there must be a generator because there's electricity. There are also enough bedrooms for all of us. This island isn't too far from Miami, and there's gotta be a lot of boats and planes that pass near here. We're stranded, but we won't be stranded for long."

There were nods of agreement from the rest of the group. They then dispersed to wait the situation out. Jennifer and Zeke changed into bathing suits and jumped into the pool. Mark and Laura sat on deck chairs by the pool as Benny sat near them, giving a speech on conspiracy theories. Jill, along with Monica and Chuck, decided to search the island for anything that might be of use or interest. They found nothing more than a few sheds filled with old tools. As they were heading back to the mansion, Jill suddenly stopped and held up her hand. "I think I heard something in the bushes," she said. The others stopped to listen. A faint rustling sound was heard, then it faded away. "Probably just an animal," said Monica. Jill nodded, but inside she was not convinced.

As darkness fell across the island, the visitors all carried their bags into the mansion and found bedrooms. (Jill suspected that Zeke and Jennifer would be in the same bedroom for most of the night). After that, they all managed to dig up some grub from the refrigerator. At Laura's insistence, and with Jill's determined backing, they agreed to have watches through the night, in case (as Laura believed) Ted and his buddies decided to show up and commit a robbery. The night, however, seemed to pass without incident.

Jill drew the last watch before daybreak. The darkness began to lift slightly as a faint glow appeared in the eastern sky. Jill, seated in a large, comfortable chair, stared admiringly at the various paintings on the walls. Suddenly, there came a rustling sound from outside, just like the sound she had heard the previous afternoon. She immediately turned to stare out the window, straining her eyes to make things out in the semi-darkness. Seeing nothing moving, she turned back towards the paintings.

It was too bad that she turned away when she did, because if she had remained staring out the window for two seconds longer, she would have seen the large, ugly zombie step out into the clearing for a few seconds and then step back into the bushes.


	3. Yes, Virginia, There Are Zombies

Chapter 3 - Yes, Virginia, There Are Zombies

The next morning dawned bright and sunny. Everything seemed peaceful as the guests came down one by one and dug some breakfast out of the refrigerator. Jill wondered for a second if Jennifer had been right, that they should just enjoy their stay on the island without worrying so much. She glanced around at the paintings and decorative swords and masks on the walls, then glanced at the greenery outside. It all seemed so calm.

As they were all sitting around the large dining room table finishing their food, the unmistakable sound of an airplane was suddenly heard. Everyone rushed outside and began waving their arms and shouting. Whoever was in the airplane, however, didn't seem to notice, and the plane continued on its course.

"Damn," said Benny. "That could have been our ticket off of here."

"Why should we want to leave?" asked Zeke. "This is a great free vacation."

"Yeah, like some sinister-looking stranger just decided to generously give a free vacation to a bunch of people he doesn't know," responded Benny. "I think something bad's going to happen and we should get off this island before it's too late."

As Zeke snorted and moved off to flirt some more with Jennifer, Laura said, "That plane was flying too high to see us anyway. It wouldn't have made a difference."

The guests soon made their way outside to enjoy the warm sun. Zeke and Jennifer lay side by side on deck chairs, sunning themselves. Benny and Chuck were in the pool, having a debate. Benny was trying to convince Chuck of the existence of UFOs, and Chuck was countering the arguments with logic and reason. Laura was busy doing laps in the pool.

Jill had decided to go for a walk. Monica and Mark decided to go with her. Mark, although he had taken off his suit, was still wearing a dress shirt and a tie. Monica looked at him with amusement. "Do you always go on vacation dressed like that?" she asked.

Mark laughed. "No," he said. "My letter that invited me here said that an important client wanted to have a business meeting with me here." He shook his head. "I don't believe in all that UFO crap Benny's saying, but I think he's right about someone having a sinister motive for putting us here. The sooner we get off this island, the better."

Jill, who had paused briefly to tie her shoe, couldn't hear Monica's reply as they walked on ahead of her. But she did hear their very loud screams a second later. She raced up to them and saw...

A ZOMBIE! Here, on this island! The zombie approached them slowly, a low growl coming from its throat. Jill automatically went right up to the zombie and punched it as hard as she could in the face, stunning it. She then quickly reached out and snapped the zombie's neck. As it fell to the ground with a dull thump, her mind raced. How could zombies be here? How could the infection have spread here? The only explanation was...somebody must be using this island as an experimenting station or breeding ground for zombies! She looked up and suddenly realized that Monica and Mark were staring at her.

"Where did you learn to do that?" asked Mark. At the same time, Monica asked, "What the hell was that thing?"

Suddenly, they heard growls and shuffling coming from the bushes. "There's more of them coming," said Jill. "Quick. We have to get back to the mansion and warn the others. This whole thing...it's a long story. I'll explain when everyone's there." The three of them hurried rapidly back along the path towards the house. Behind them, they could hear the grunts and growls of the zombies.

The other guests looked up and stared in surprise when they saw Jill, Monica, and Mark come crashing out of the bushes. "Everyone out of the pool and into the house!" Jill ordered. "It's an emergency!"

The guests (with considerable grumbling) climbed out of the pool and off of their chairs and followed her into the mansion. When everyone was inside, she closed and locked the door behind them. Everyone sat down on chairs and couches in the large living room. "You want to tell us what the hell this is all about?" asked Zeke.

"Yeah," said Jennifer. "What's so important that you had to interrupt my tanning?"

"Um, okay," said Jill. "I know this is going to sound REALLY hard to believe, but...there are zombies out there who are trying to eat us." Mark and Monica nodded. "One of them was about to attack us, but Jill killed it," said Monica. "She was really cool." Jill blushed.

From the looks on their faces, it was clear that Zeke, Jennifer, Chuck, and Laura did not believe them. Only Benny nodded his head in excitement. "I knew it!" he said. "Some crazy scientist is using this island to breed an army of zombies! I just knew that Ted was up to no good!" That was one good thing about conspiracy theorists, Jill decided. They would believe any crazy-sounding story, even if it was true.

"I thought zombies only existed in video games and horror movies," said Laura.

"I'm afraid not," replied Jill. She went on to tell the whole long story, about her work with S.T.A.R.S., about the Umbrella Corporation, about the T-virus, and about Raccoon City. When she was finished, Monica, Mark, and Benny were nodding their heads in understanding, but the others still looked skeptical. "The idea of zombies existing in reality is..." began Chuck.

"Look!" said Mark, interrupting him. He pointed out the window. Sure enough, a pair of zombies had emerged from the bushes and were nearing the pool area. They were making their way closer to the house. Chuck, Laura, Jennifer, and Zeke stared in shock. "I'll be damned," said Chuck.

"I don't suppose anybody brought any kind of firearms with them?" said Jill, wishing that she had brought some of hers along. Unless...She suddenly remembered something and turned to Zeke. "That long, thin case you brought," she said. "It's a rifle case, isn't it?"

Zeke was already on his feet, running towards his room. A few moments later, he returned with the long, thin case. He opened it and took out an AR-15 rifle. Quickly loading it, he opened the window and took aim at the nearest zombie. He fired, hitting it in the chest, but the zombie kept coming.

"You have to hit them in the head," said Jill helpfully. Zeke fired again, this time hitting the zombie in the head and killing it. He then quickly dispatched the second zombie. After that, Jill yanked the window shut again. Jennifer turned to Zeke. "So, what'd you bring that thing here for?" she asked.

"I do some shooting on my cable TV show," said Zeke. "Thought I might have a good chance to practice on an island in the middle of nowhere."

"How much ammo did you bring?" asked Jill.

"About sixty rounds," he answered. Jill frowned. If her past experiences with zombies were any indicator, they would need a lot more than that. "All right," she said. "The safest place for all of us is in the house. We should all make sure to stay inside. Also, we should barricade all the doors and first-floor windows."

"What about trying to signal a plane or a boat?" asked Laura. "Don't we have to go outside for that?"

"We can probably rig something up from the upstairs windows," said Chuck. "We don't have to go outside."

"Well, let's get to work," said Jill. They all began dragging furniture and other heavy items to barricade the doors and windows. As they worked, they caught occasional glimpses of zombies moving around outside. The mansion was very big and it was a large, time-consuming task. Finally, they were almost finished. Suddenly, the sound of glass shattering rang through the house. A small group of zombies had smashed through one of the few windows that hadn't been barricaded yet. One zombie sank its teeth deep into Mark, who was closest to the window, and took a chunk out of his neck. His horrible scream echoed through the mansion. Monica, who was also in the room, was grabbed by another zombie. She managed to shake herself loose and kick the zombie, sending it flying backward. Mark was already being dragged outside by some of the monsters. Monica screamed for help and tried to run forward to help him, but was grabbed by a fat and ugly zombie. She began fighting it.

The others, hearing the noise, charged into the room. Zeke had his rifle, while Jill and Chuck each carried one of the swords that had been displayed on the dining room wall. Zeke shot the fat zombie that was attacking Monica, then aimed out the window and began shooting the zombies that were dragging Mark away. Meanwhile, Jill, sword in hand, began attacking the monsters that were still in the room. She sliced one clean in half at the waist, then kicked another that was about to bite her, sending it to the ground. She finished it off by shoving her sword into its head. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Chuck finish off another zombie. Jill approached the last zombie in the room, sword raised, and quickly decapitated it.

A growl came from the floor. The upper part of the zombie that Jill had cut in half was dragging itself slowly towards her. She raised her sword, but Monica stepped forward. "Allow me," she said. With that, Monica kicked the zombie as hard as she could in the head. The head came flying off like a soccer ball. Jill and Monica smiled at each other.

Zeke, rifle in hand, peered out the window. "I think they're gone now," he said. No more zombies were in sight, but poor Mark's corpse was visible in the grass. Large parts of him were missing. Jennifer threw up into a trash can when she saw the body.

They dragged the rotting, stinking zombie bodies outside. Jennifer looked as if she was going to throw up again. As they worked, Zeke, clutching his rifle tightly, kept a close eye out for any other zombies that might jump out of the trees. After all the undead had been taken outside, the guests quickly barricaded all the remaining windows. When they were done, Jill sat in a chair and covered her face with her hands. This wasn't supposed to be happening again. Not here.

She sat up straight and tossed her hair. "Focus," she told herself. She turned to the others. "What have we got?" she asked.

"I've got 51 rounds of ammo left," reported Zeke. Chuck added, "From the amount of food in the refrigerator, I think we have enough to last us about a week."

"We're screwed," said Benny. "Even if someone does come here to save us, how are we or they ever going to get past all those zombies? The mad scientist who's behind all of this is going to get away with it, and there's nothing we can do about it. We're all dead." At this, Jennifer broke down and began crying. Zeke went over to comfort her.

"We can't afford to think like that," said Jill sharply to Benny. "There's always a chance." Benny seated himself in a corner and began muttering to himself about mad scientists, UFOs, and conspiracy theories. Zeke was still comforting Jennifer in another corner.

"Come on," said Jill to the others. "Let's search the house. We've got to find weapons, radios, extra food, and anything else that might help us." Chuck and Monica began searching the ground floor. Jill took the second floor, while Laura went to the third story. As she climbed the stairs, Jill thought to herself. She wasn't feeling as negative as Benny, but she was still worried. How long could they survive?


	4. Guinea Pigs Playing Poker

Chapter 4 - Guinea Pigs Playing Poker

Jill searched the rooms of the mansion, peering under beds, opening drawers, and lifting up paintings from the walls. All this searching, and still nothing. Whoever was the mastermind behind marooning them here had done his homework. There had to be devices out there that were spawning the zombies. She wondered who the mastermind was. An agent of Umbrella, probably, but who? Was it someone she knew? Also, where was he hiding out? Was he right there on the island? Or did he have some kind of remote-control technology that allowed him to unleash the zombies from afar, perhaps from a boat or maybe even from the mainland.

She finished searching the room she was in and moved on to the next with a sigh. Suddenly, she heard Laura shout from the top floor. "Hey, everybody, I've found something!" Jill rushed upstairs as fast as she could. A few moments later, the others came running up. "In here," said Laura, waving from one of the unoccupied third-floor bedrooms. They all hurried into the room. One of the paintings had been removed from the wall. Behind it, a secret compartment was revealed. "There are weapons in here," Laura said.

Jill eagerly peered into the compartment and began removing the items from it. The others crowded around behind her. There was one M1 rifle, one 12 gauge shotgun, one .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and one .357 magnum revolver. There was also a box containing ten grenades, and boxes of ammunition. She frowned as she looked through the ammo boxes and saw how little of it there was. Then she nodded in understanding. "Of course."

"What? What are you 'of-coursing' about?" asked Chuck.

"The people who brought us here," said Jill. "This is some sort of twisted game to them. They hid this stuff here for us, but they only gave us a little ammo. It's enough to prolong our ordeal, but not enough to fight our way out of here."

"See!" said Benny. "I'm not the only one who believes in this stuff!" Jill managed a smile, then began passing out the weapons based on who had experience with them. She handed the M1 to Chuck, the .45 to Monica, and the revolver to Laura. She kept the shotgun for herself. Zeke, of course, still had the rifle he had brought with him. Jill then passed out one grenade to each person (after, of course, carefully instructing everyone on how to use them properly). "Conserve your ammo," she said. "Only shoot at something that's a direct threat."

Monica peered out the window, staring at the growing number of zombies that were converging on the house. "Why are they all coming here?" she asked. "Why don't they just go roaming around the island at random?"

"The zombies are attracted to the smell of our flesh," replied Jill. "They'll be trying to break in. We'll have to be on our toes." She continued, "It'll probably be safer if we stay on the upper floors of the house and only go down when we have to get something from the refrigerator. If they start breaching the barricades, we can shoot at them from the windows up here. And at least two of us should be awake at all times, day or night."

Jennifer stared out the window at the mob of zombies, chewing on her nails nervously. "So what do we do now?" she asked. "We can't swim in the pool, go to the beach, or go for a hike. And there aren't any TVs or anything in the house. How are we supposed to entertain ourselves?"

"I brought a deck of cards," said Benny, holding them up. "I guess we can play poker or something."

"Why not?" said Laura. "It'll be good to take our minds off of our imminent deaths for a while." The others nodded in agreement and sat down in a circle on the floor of the large bedroom. Benny shuffled and dealt the cards. Even the game couldn't take Jill's mind off of their predicament, although it seemed to be working fairly well for the others. They played for a while, then took a brief break for lunch, racing down to the kitchen and racing back upstairs with the food, trying to ignore the zombies roaming around outside. The zombies, although they had surrounded the mansion, did not seem to be eager to try to break in. The guests continued playing poker in the third-floor bedroom as they ate.

Jill sighed. She might be talented at shooting, lock-picking, and playing the piano, but she was definitely not good at poker. Ooh, finally, a good hand, she thought to herself. When it was her turn to lay down her cards, she said with a grin, "Three aces."

"That's pretty good," said Zeke. "Almost as good as my flush." He grinned back as he displayed five diamonds. Jill let out a low growl. Suddenly, a bunch of much louder growls was heard from downstairs, followed by crashing and banging sounds. "They're breaking in!" shouted Chuck. Everyone rushed to the window and looked out excitedly, only to realize that the zombies were breaking in from the other side of the house (which caused Jill to let out another growl). They hurried to the rooms on that side. Sure enough, a large group of zombies was trying to break in. Zeke, Chuck, and Laura fired at the undead from one room, while Jill and Monica fired from the room next door. Some of the monsters fell, but there was a large crowd to deal with.

Jennifer opened another window and leaned out, waving a grenade. "Eat this, you slimeballs!" she shouted. She leaned out and dropped the grenade on a pile of zombies. Unfortunately, she leaned out too far and tumbled out with a scream of "AAAHHHHGGGHHHH!" She hit the ground with a THUMP. A second later, the grenade exploded, sending zombie parts (and Jennifer's parts) flying everywhere.

The others stared at the scene in horror, then continued firing at the undead. Soon, it appeared that the zombies had all fallen or disappeared back into the trees. "Come on," said Jill, leading the way downstairs. "We have to fix the barricade." She descended the stairs cautiously, weapon at the ready, the others just behind her. The barricade of furniture they had set up was partly smashed through in the place where the zombies had attacked. A few dead zombies had fallen onto the barricade. More of them were visible lying on the ground outside.

The guests began dragging more chairs, tables, and cabinets to the window to rebuild the barricade. Jill, a wooden chair in her hands, was just approaching the shattered window when, out of nowhere, a zombie popped up right in front of her and growled. She swung the chair, hitting the monster in the head and knocking it to the floor. It began getting up again, but by then Jill had readied and aimed her shotgun. She fired with a loud BANG and the zombie's head exploded.

"Are you all right?" asked Monica. Jill nodded her head. Zeke raised his rifle. "Maybe we should put a few bullets into these guys to make sure they're all dead," he said.

"No," said Jill. "Don't waste ammunition. Let's have two of us keep our guns ready and cover the others while they move the furniture. That way, we'll be ready if any of the others are still alive."

After they had fixed the barricade, they gathered some more food from the kitchen so they wouldn't have to come downstairs again at dinnertime. The guests then hurried back upstairs. Benny gathered up the playing cards. It didn't seem right to keep playing after what had happened to Jennifer.

"We're all going to die," said Benny. "Look, we're dying off one by one. We're all going to die."

"Stop being so negative," said Jill, trying to put on a brave face even though more and more of her was starting to agree with him. "We can outsmart whoever's doing this to us."

"We can't hold out for much longer," said Chuck, after inspecting the guns. "We've used up almost one-third of our ammo. And the barricades won't hold forever. We have to break out somehow. Make a run for the beach. Maybe we can build a raft and float away."

"We don't have any tools for building a raft," said Monica. "And even if we did manage to build one, it's at least fifty miles to the nearest land. I doubt it'd stay together for that long. Besides, the zombies are attracted to human flesh and they'd follow us. Out there in the open, we'd never be able to hold them off long enough to build a raft."

"Looks like it's a choice between a quick death and a slow one," said Benny. He was about to say something more when Laura held up her hand. "Listen!" she said. They all became quiet and listened. For a second, there was nothing, then a faint but distinctive sound was heard. It was the sound of a motorboat.


End file.
